Amid budget impasse, Pease, shipyard workers sent home

Wednesday

Oct 2, 2013 at 2:00 AM

KITTERY, Maine — Andrew Ward is going to be adopting his foster son today. The celebratory mood, however, will be tempered by the fact that Ward was furloughed Tuesday from his job at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Deborah McDermott

KITTERY, Maine — Andrew Ward is going to be adopting his foster son today. The celebratory mood, however, will be tempered by the fact that Ward was furloughed Tuesday from his job at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Ward is one of as many as 2,800 workers at the shipyard who came to work Tuesday, only to clean out their desks and head back home.

"It's awful, no matter what happens," the Wells resident said.

For the first time in 17 years, the federal government began to shut down Tuesday, after Congress failed to come up with a budget agreement.

Due to the shutdown, many offices in the McIntyre Federal Building in Portsmouth, N.H., were closed, local federal wildlife refuges shut their gates, and federal employees who work out of offices at the University of New Hampshire have been furloughed.

At Pease Air National Guard Base, 128 military technicians will not be reporting for work tomorrow. Another 100, the N.H. National Guard learned Tuesday, have been exempted from furloughs. The refueling tankers at the 157th Air Refueling Wing at Pease support active-duty missions and officials were able to make that case to the Pentagon, Lt. Col. Greg Heilshorn said.

That action came Tuesday, the same day U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel seeking to exempt the Air Refueling Wing and shipyard workers.

Meanwhile, at the shipyard Tuesday morning, a steady stream of cars passed through Gate 1 as workers flooded out of the shipyard. A number yelled words like, "This sucks" or "Obama stinks" as they passed.

As many as half of the 6,000 people who work at the shipyard are facing furloughs as part of the government shutdown.

Ward said he feels lucky. He has two part-time jobs lined up, his wife works and they have saved every penny they could — precisely because in the two years and eight months he has worked at the yard, his job has been threatened several times. Tuesday, though, was his first furlough.

"We just don't spend any money. We just don't know what's going to happen with my job, and we don't know how long this is going to keep going," he said.

Margot Goodwin of South Berwick is a financial technician at the shipyard.

"Ironic, eh? I work in finances," said the single mother, who has a son in college who is living at home. "I have some savings, but it'll be gone if this lasts too long. I'm worried because the rent just went up and the bills don't stop coming."

That sentiment was felt by all who were interviewed at the shipyard gates.

"It's the not knowing," said Eliot resident Terrie Walker, who just returned to her job after she was sidelined by a work-related disability. "I couldn't believe it when I heard Congress will be paid during the shutdown."

Other impacts

At the McIntyre Federal Building in Portsmouth, the Internal Revenue Service office is shut down and its employees furloughed. Any appointments residents have with the local IRS are considered canceled, according to the office's Web site.

Those who requested extensions must still file returns by Tuesday, Oct. 15, either electronically or on paper. Tax refunds will not be issued until government operations begin again.

The Social Security Administration office at the McIntyre building is open, but with reduced staffing, according to the SSA Web site. People may come to the office to apply for benefits, change an address, seek help to replace a missing payment or to be issued a critical payment. Many other services are only available online.

Also shuttered are local federal reserves, including the Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Newington, N.H., and the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells and Kittery. Both are administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

War Feurt, the refuge manager in Wells, said all property is closed to all visitors. "You can't even be on our property," he said. "That includes employees and it affects all of our volunteers."

At UNH, 18 employees who work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were expected to be furloughed, UNH spokeswoman Erika Mantz said. She said it is unclear whether electronic systems for grant submissions with deadlines during the shutdown would be available.

"Any researcher awaiting work on grant funding will most likely be on hold for a decision during a shutdown," she said.

According to the National Association of Realtors on Tuesday, the Federal Housing Administration will endorse new single-family loans, but will not make new commitments in the agency's multi-family program. Veterans Administration loans will be processed, with some delays. U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Housing loan approvals will not be processed. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to operate normally. The National Passport Center and all other passport agencies are "open and providing normal services," according to a State Department official.

John Joyal, a welding instructor at the shipyard, said the New Hampshire and Maine congressional delegations have been good allies of the local yard, but the group of politicians in Washington as a whole is to blame for the shutdown.

"Shame on Congress for not doing their jobs," Joyal said.

Joyal said he is also concerned because furloughed workers were told they were eligible to receive unemployment compensation, but none of the paperwork they received confirmed eligibility.

Heather Sheldon, a first-year apprentice at the shipyard, said she is OK financially for now but would be concerned if she has to dip into her savings while on furlough.

"I'll leave when they tell me to leave and I'll come back when they tell me to come back," she said. "I'll be the first one here."

Herald photojournalist Deb Cram contributed to this report.

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